“The internationalism here this year is due in part to the continuing strength of the Chinese technical textiles and nonwovens market, while this potential is also drawing some of the biggest domestic names to exhibit here as well,” Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd said. “While other sectors of the textile industry in China are in a more mature stage of their development, the technical textiles sector is still developing and expanding rapidly, with growth of 10.9% recorded in the first half of this year.”

These opportunities in the domestic market have led to a wide range of international exhibitors taking part in hall E7 this year, including in pavilions from Belgium, Germany, Italy and Taiwan, a new Korean Pavilion, as well as the returning European Zone. Individual exhibitors from a further 19 countries also take part in this hall including representation from Denmark, Japan, Poland and Sweden for the first time.

Chinese exhibitors will feature in halls E5 & E6. Domestic pavilions include those led by Shangtex Holding featuring woven fabrics, laid webs and knitting fabrics; China Hi-Tech Group Corp which will display fibres and machinery; and the Beijing Guanghua Textile Group pavilion with a range of technical textile products.

Leading domestic and overseas suppliers from 12 product application areas to take part

With increased internationalism this year and 12 product application areas covered, the product diversity at the fair is the highest it has ever been. Adding to this, some of the industry’s biggest names will feature at this edition. In the Germany Pavilion, Trützschler Nonwovens, Dilo Systems and Autefa Solutions take part, with Europlasma, Plastibert, CTF 2000 and Bekintex NV (Bekaert) participating in the Belgium Pavilion. The Italy Pavilion houses Finelvo and the Fil Man Made Group amongst others. The European Zone will feature exhibitors from 11 countries, including Reliant Machinery, Stahl Holdings, SKS, Concordia Textiles and many others.

The two Asian pavilions from Korea and Taiwan boast some of the region’s most innovative suppliers, with the Korea Textile Trade Association explaining their pavilion will contain a number of special textiles integrated with ICT elements this year. China will be well represented by exhibitors from across the industry, in particular by nonwovens suppliers given their strength in this sector. Beautiful Nonwoven have the second largest nonwovens production capacity in China, while Hismer Bio-Technology and Zhejiang Kingsafe Nonwoven Fabric are other notable exhibitors in this category.

Apart from the big-name exhibitors in the pavilions, the individual exhibitors also offer quality sourcing options. Groz-Beckert will feature felting and structuring needles as well as jet strips for the nonwovens industry. Austrian companies Lenzing, the world leader in cellulosic fibre technology and manufacturing, and Andritz, with their nonwovens systems and technologies, also feature. From the US, Johns Manville & the American regional office of Coats will be at the fair, while Toyobo and Unitika represent Japan.

New panel discussion forms part of fair’s informative fringe programme

The fair’s fringe programme includes a number of new features this year to ensure fairgoers can keep up to date with the latest industry happenings. For the first time, a panel discussion will be held on day one of the fair, with the title ‘The Latest Trends and Developments of Technical Fibre in Nonwoven Applications’. Moderated by BeaverLake6 Report, the panellists are from Toyobo, Unitika and Lenzing. On the second day, the China International Nonwovens Conference will take place, with speakers from leading international and Chinese suppliers and industry associations participating.

A number of product presentations will be made on the first two days of the fair, while the ‘12th Five-year Innovation Achievements of China Nonwoven & Industrial Textiles’ and ‘4th Kingsafe Cup National Undergraduate Nonwoven Product Design and Application Contest’ award ceremonies will take place. Moreover, in hall E6, the Innovative Showcase area highlights the latest innovations and achievements in several end uses including Geotech, Indutech, Medtech, Mobiltech, Protech and more.

This year’s VIP Buyer Programme will also ensure a high level of quality trade visitors are in attendance, with a number of companies from Asia, Europe and Africa participating. What’s more, the organisers have specifically invited buyers from the downstream of the supply chain to ensure that the full spectrum of industry players will be present, from the raw material to the application stage.